It has long been known that certain fibers produced in nature possess remarkable mechanical properties in terms of strength, resilience and flexibility. These protein based fibers, exemplified by spider silk, have been the subject of much interest due to spider silk’s incredible toughness. While the superior properties of spider silks are well known, there was no known way to produce spider silk in commercial quantities. Since spiders are cannibalistic, they cannot be raised in concentrated colonies to produce silk.
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